Catastrophe

Two true stories from one week: A couple is walking in San Francisco and they hear a horrible screech and a thump. They turn in time to see the body of a bicyclist hurtling through the air. The man runs to assist while the woman calls 911 on her cell phone. As the man reaches the victim, she is clearly in shock. He starts to reassure her that help is on the way, but she clutches him and repeats over and over "I can't afford this--I can't afford this."

A woman teaches for many years and then become disabled. She is fortunate to have an insurance policy that guarantees her 90% of her salary, with annual cost-of-living increases. She also qualifies for Social Security Disability benefits and Medicare, not to mention a mention a pension fund based on her years of work and pay-in to the state retirement fund. All of these were earned benefits. Her last retroactive cost-of-living increase went to the attorney who is handling her bankruptcy. Why is she filing for bankruptcy? It is the cost of her medications, or more specifically, the copay for her medications. This runs to $1200 a month, give or take a few bucks. When her copay exceeds $5000 in a given year, she qualifies for "catastrophic" health cost assistance. The problem is that year after year of waiting to qualify for assistance with her copay have taken a financial toll. This not the result of compulsive gambling or shopping--this is the result of living with chronic illness in this country DESPITE years of productive, tax-paying work and contributions to the systems that are supposed to provide protection.

We have heard for years that we can't afford a universal health care system in the United States. Our citizens travel to the "third world" for medical procedures that they can not afford at home. Every discussion of this important issue includes horror stories from England or Canada detailing the waiting periods for a CT scan. There is no discussion of what Canadians or the British (and many others) have, that we don't--basic health care for all--and how much that saves everyone over the long haul in health care costs. There is no discussion of systems that combine public and private health insurance. There is no discussion of what the bail-out of Wall Street and the short-sighted car manufacturers would have bought us in basic health care for our citizens. There is no discussion of the fact that --in the face of rapidly rising health care costs--most insurance carriers are operating on a for-profit basis. Who generates the profits?--not hard to guess.

Hurricane Katrina--catastrophe? Yes. Fallout from Hurricane Ike in the form of torrential rain and flooding (pictured above)? Well yes, in some areas. Rising gas prices? Maybe. Health care delivery in this country? Yes, Yes, Yes!